


By the fire, the people cry.

by broken_bird



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Apocalypse, But also not, Camping, Crying, Dead Yamaguchi Tadashi, Fire, Late at Night, M/M, Mild Gore, Not Beta Read, On the Run, Sad Tsukishima Kei, Stars, Vomiting, Whispering, Zombie Apocalypse, broken glass, but not really camping, i think, its not that descriptive tho, just a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:54:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23545708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broken_bird/pseuds/broken_bird
Summary: A cracked whisper broke the silence of the night.As the flames danced over the blackening wood and embers rose to meet the stars, a figure tilted his head up and watched the stars.His voice steady as he murmured names before falling silent, keeping his silent vigil as he watched over the camp.A small smile climbed its way onto his face, as the silent tears ran down.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kuroo Tetsurou & Tsukishima Kei, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi, if you squint
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	By the fire, the people cry.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll admit, I did kinda lose the plot halfway through this, but I think it turned out alright in the end.

The sun has fallen, paving way for the pale moon to show its face. Life has not been easy for any of the high schoolers. They’ve killed, stolen, and scavenged to survive. Each of them desperate to save each other and themselves.

Tsukishima sighed from his post at the top of the base, an old house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a metal gate. They were locked in, and the things were locked out. Tsukishima was on watch duty. Everyone in the base alternated being on watch duty with some people guarding the gates from the inside. Everyone had a role to play, and all of them played that role the best they could.

See, the world is at the end. The infection spread quickly and through bites and open wounds. It hit them hard. It hit everyone hard. It was just a few weeks ago when everything went to shit.

Karasuno was hit hard and sudden. They were in Tokyo, driving to meet up with Fukurodani and Nekoma when a car slammed into their bus. Shocking the students and teachers as the bus landed hard onto its side. After the initial crash from the bus, they all realized something. It was quiet. Tokyo was  _ never _ quiet. In Tokyo, the cars beeped and honked, the trains rumbled, and you could hear the distant chattering of people as they moved on with their daily lives. This, however, this was weird.

Tsukishima’s skin prickled at the strange quietness of the city. It made him feel uneasy like something was waiting, hiding in the shadows. Something watching him. The creaking of a door alerted him to Noya who was unscrewing the emergency escape door that normally resides on the top of the bus. They did a headcount, confirming that everyone was there and relatively uninjured, albeit a few shallow cuts and scrapes here and there, but no one had anything major.

As everyone shuffled out of the bus, carrying their respectful bags that contained their clothing, belongings, and whatever food and water they stored away in there, they looked around the quiet streets, a few cars scattered about, but all left empty in the middle of the road. It was completely silent save for the scruffing of their feet as they all gathered around. They walked around to the front of the bus, surveying the damage done to their only transportation method.

A low hissing sound came from somewhere off to Tsukishima’s right and he glanced over and watched horrified as an old lady, or what used to be an old lady limped down the steps from where she was perched in front of an old cafe. He was tuning out what the others were saying, but as the lady staggered closer and closer he noticed her eyes were glazed over and her pupils burned a bright yellow, contrasting the pale tones of her once rosy skin. His stomach rolled as he noticed the chunks of flesh ripped from the body trailing blood behind her as she continued her slow march towards them. He quickly scanned the surrounding area, noticing as more and more of those... _ things _ headed in their direction.

There was a guy with a chunk of flesh torn out of his neck. A woman with her hand cracked off, blood running down her arm. But worse of all a child, no older than six with blood dripping down her face. More and more kept approaching them, and Tsukishima hurriedly realized that he probably get his team moving before they got surrounded by these creatures. His stomach gave another harsh twist as he saw another child with his stomach scratched open. All of them were still at least a hundred feet away, but that didn’t stop him from narrowing his vision until he could only see the little boy with his stomach split open.

He looked so young, no older than five with dark hair of a color he couldn’t identify yet. He should have been playing tag in the schoolyard with his friends, laughing without a care in the world, but here he was stomach slit open and trailing blood as he walked down the street. Tsukishima’s stomach twisted again before he pitched forward and vomited, bracing himself on his knees as he coughed up a wave of foul-tasting liquid, effectively startling his teammates.

As they started to surround him, asking if he was okay or that if he felt sick. He shook his head, spitting a couple of times at the ground to get rid of the taste before gesturing around him to the figures of people closing in on them.

Raising his head, Tsukishima looked at Daichi, “We need to go, now. It’s not safe here. Not anymore.”

The crows looked around at the people and a couple of faces paled at the realization that they were missing chunks of their flesh. Asahi, Yamaguchi, and Hinata all looked like they were going to be sick, but having been warned they were able to stifle their gagging, instead focusing on Daichi as he spoke, “As Tsukishima stated earlier, we’re not safe out here. Everyone carry your bags and grab anything you could use as a weapon. We need to get moving.”

Everyone nodded in affirmative as they all strapped their bags around their bodies, and quickly started scavenging for things they could use as weapons. Tsukishima stuck his upper body back into the bus, grabbing some of the bigger shards of glass from the broken windows. Passing a couple to Yamaguchi, he kept three for himself.

A low hissing sound came from his left. Tsukishima’s head snapped to the side, his gaze landing on a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties with the bright yellow eyes and pale skin. His leg was twisted at an awkward angle and was dragging on the ground as this thing limped forward toward him. Yamaguchi looked horrified as Tsukishima whipped his head around, yelling harshly to everyone, “We need to go. Now.”

Daichi’s eyes widened as he noticed the walking dead closing in on them before barking out commands, “Stay next to someone as much as you can. We’re gonna make a run for it. If you get separated, head to where the training camp was going to be held. Ration your food and water, and don’t hesitate to kill one of these things.”

The team nodded showing that they understood, and everyone started drifting towards the people that they were closest to. Daichi looked at all of them from where he was standing next to Sugawara, “Everyone ready? We’ll try to regroup about a mile from here, but in the case that you get split from your partner or if you lose sight of us, you all know where to go. Okay, in three.”

Three seconds was all it took for disaster to happen. As Daichi started his countdown, everyone braced themselves to start running at full speed. Tsukishima didn’t notice the figure staggering closer and closer to him until Yamaguchi chucked one of his pieces of glass at it, successfully piercing the neck, and blood pooled at the wound, dribbling down the body as it swayed in place for a few seconds before collapsing. Yamaguchi screamed out, his voice loud and panicked contrasting his normal gentleness, “Everyone. Run.”

They took too long. He should have noticed, should have kept a lookout, but he didn’t. No one did. They lost both Asahi and Yamaguchi that day along with the only adults in their group. After the initial call from Yamaguchi, he had grabbed the attention of the closest creatures. They blocked off the exit and forced him to run back to where the bus was laying on its side. Asahi and Nishioya were closest to the freckled boy and acting on a whim, Asashi picked Noya up and threw him over the head of the dead. Noya skidded on the pavement before clambering to his feet.

“Asahi!” His eyes were wide and heartbroken, silent tears pooling in his eyes.

“Noya, go! I’ll be fine. Trust me, okay?”

He nodded quietly and solemnly, as he took off running towards the rest of the team. Ukai, Takeda, and Tsukishima were the only ones who haven’t started running yet. Ukai placed his hands on each shoulder of the tall middle blocker, “Go. We’ll help Asahi and Yamaguchi. We’ll be okay. You need to get out of here.”

Tsukishima shook his head, “I-I can’t. I can’t leave him here.”

He was no longer looking at his coach. His eyes were locked on the bus where Yamaguchi was throwing pieces of shattered glass at the creatures, Asahi next to him having smashed another window and was handing off the pieces to the other boy.

“Tsukishima, go. Now. We’ll help them. We’ll be okay.”

He nodded tears pooling in his eyes as he turned to follow Nishinoya who was nothing more than a speck, running after the rest of his teammates who were no longer in sight. The gravel crunched under the feet of the adults as they ran towards the two most timid students on their team. Tsukishima took one look back and locked eyes with Yamaguchi. Taking in his green, brown eyes which were pooling with tears. It felt like the world had stopped, and just for a minute nothing else mattered but him and Yamaguchi, but all too soon Yamaguchi broke the eye contact in favor of chucking a sliver of glass at another creature.

Turning his head, Tsukishima started to run, a call sounded out from behind him, “I’m sorry, Tsukki.” Followed closely by an, “I love you.”

Tsukishima looked back at the shrinking silhouettes of his childhood best friend, and the people he has come to recognize and family. He ran faster, pushing his legs till they burned. He looked over his shoulder once more watching in silent grief and regret as the things started to climb up on the bus until he couldn’t make out what were his family and what were the creatures. The dead and alive mingled together until he couldn’t discern any figures anymore. He put his head down, not allowing himself to look back anymore as he bolted.

He cried silently as he ran, chest heaving for air, his legs burning as he ran faster than he ever did in his life. Salty tears staining tracks on his cheeks were quickly blown dry by the rushing wind on his face. The only thought running through his mind was that he needed to run. That he needed to get away.

“Tsukishima. Over here.”

He slowed down his pace till he came to a stop looking around for the source of the voice that he recognized as his captain’s, “Nishinoya just joined us a couple of minutes ago, is there anyone behind you that we need to wait for? We need to start moving soon if we’re going to make it to a safe place before nightfall.”

Nightfall. Hm. He didn’t notice the yellowing sky during his panicked run. But he raised his eyes to look at the team. They knew who was missing, and they knew the chances were high that they weren’t going to make it. Tsukishima opened his mouth, intending to answer the question directed at him before his throat choked up and he shut his mouth and shook his head. At his response, Noya’s eyes teared up slightly before he wiped his eyes and his face hardened into a look of fierce determination.

From that moment on they grew closer, learning to rely on each other. They learned new things about each other and from each other. Sugawara was the main hunter of the group as his father often took him hunting when he was younger, and he knew how to set traps and skin the animals. Daichi immediately took on the role of leader, his captain status in the group proved his dominance over the rest of them. They soon learned who was good at certain things, and who was not. Tsukishima was good at keeping watch during the night, he had an inferior skill set against his teammates with all the normal day time tasks. At night though, he sat quietly in the camp as the rest of the team slept soundly beside the fire.

He enjoyed having the night watch, it let him think about everything that was going around, and on some nights when the moon shone brightly and it was silent save for the wind blowing through the leaves, he could almost pretend that nothing was wrong. That they were all just out in the forest, camping, and not on the run from place to place. There was always a hole in his mind that couldn’t be filled. A hole that Yamaguchi Tadashi used to reside in. On especially quiet nights, like tonight, he would stand by the fire and watch the flames dance over the wooden branches, watch the sparks of the embers fly up towards the stars in the sky. During these nights, he would whisper the names of the people they lost, and the people they haven’t found.

His voice was always raspy then, due to his refusal to speak since that day on the bus, but soon it was something he did every night while he watched his teammates sleep. His shift always began as the sun started to go down, and he switched off with Noya when the moon shone directly about them. His shift was always the quietest, maybe it was because everything had settled down for the night, so when something in the leaves started to rustle, his head immediately snapped up.

Scanning the surrounding area for any signs of movement, his eyes locked on to a shadowy figure standing near the outskirts of their makeshift camp. Grabbing the shitty gun that they stole from a house that only had a fifty-fifty chance of it firing, he shot it at the intruder as they approached. It clicked, but no bullet shot out of it. Dammit. Grabbing a glass shard from his bag, he cocked his arm back intending to throw it before a voice rang out in the small clearing.

“Tsukishima?”

The voice was small and unbelieving, but the familiarity of it stopped him from throwing the glass. Tilting his head to the side, Tsukishima watched as the intruder pocketed their gun and raised their hands into a surrendering position before walking out of the shadows. Messy black hair, and dark, cat-like eyes. As the lanky figure approached, there was no mistaking it. This was Kuroo.

“Tsukishima. It’s you. It’s really you. Thank god you’re alive,” Kuroo’s ramblings were louder than the initial first call of his name, and it woke up the other crows as they learned to sleep lightly in case anything were to happen.

Daichi was the first to stir looking up at the familiar black-haired figure, “K-Kuroo?”

Kuroo’s eyes lit up at the sight of his fellow captain, “Daichi. You guys should come with us to our camp. It’s not safe out here. There are a lot of infected in the neck of these woods.”

“Alright,” he said before continuing louder, “You heard him, everyone needs to be up and ready in five.”

A chorus of affirmatives rang out from the teens surrounding them as they started to gather up their belongings. Tsukishima bent down to retrieve the gun that he threw off to the side in his haste to grab the sliver of clear crystal. Five minutes later they were all standing near the now put out fire ready to go. Following Kuroo after he gestured for them to follow they began to walk. The journey was silent, most of them lost in their thoughts. They trudged onwards through the woods before coming across an old house seemingly abandoned, but in it now resided the owls and cats, and it soon became home to the crows.

“Welcome to our lovely establishment,” Kuroo called out waving his hands in a dramatic gesture towards the house before calling out to the figure watching the gate entrance. “Hey, Bo! I’m back and I found Karasuno!”

The duel haired boy turned and scanned the group before his lively yellow eyes landed on Tsukishima, “Tsukki! You’re alive! Ah! Hang on, I’ll open the gate.”

Having said that, Bokuto opened the gates and so began Karasuno’s integration into their new life. They quickly adapted to the new routine inside the new, permanent base. Aoba Johsai joined about a week later, or what was left of them, they were hit hard and suddenly, their coach was infected and attacked them during one of their practices. They barely escaped, but they lost several of their teammates heading to Tokyo in an attack where they were split into two groups.

The day Aoba Johsai joined was a shock. After all, no one was expecting Oikawa to show up at the front of the gate, eyes wide and panicked as he asked the person guarding the gate, which happened to be Daichi, for help. It was strange, Tsukishima thought, the captain and his vice seemed inseparable, so where was Iwaizumi? He headed down to the front to listen to what Oikawa said.

“-attacked on our way to Tokyo. We got split up. About three from our group are still out there, but we think they got away safely. Iwaizumi is with them. We don’t have any serious injuries other than Kindaichi’s broken arm. Please, help us.”

The small crowd parted as Kuroo made his way to the front of the group next to Daichi, “Who are you?”

“Oikawa Tooru, captain of the Aoba Johsai Volleyball Club, Daichi can confirm that.”

Kuroo glanced at Daichi who confirmed what Oikawa said with a nod, “Alright, we’ll take you guys in, but you all will have to pull your weight to the best of your abilities. Kindaichi, follow Daichi, he’ll take you to Yaku. Welcome.”

Tsukishima turned around after he said that and walked back. They kept a firepit that constantly burned at night, he still refused to talk except at night when he watched the fire and whispered the names of everyone in the group had lost or people that haven’t been found. It was a silent vigil that he took upon himself to respect the people that they have all lost. The list constantly changed as he heard people talk, but one factor stayed the same, the list always began with Yamaguchi and ended with the most recent name he’s heard.

This night was no different as he stood by the fire and watched the flames lick the night’s air. His voice quietly chanting the names of people that they have lost, unaware of the black-haired man standing behind him. As he finished and lapsed into silence for a couple minutes he was approached by the lanky middle blocker from Nekoma.

“So you still can talk, it’s been kinda quiet without your remarks. Whatcha doing anyways?”

Tsukishima sighed knowing that Kuroo wouldn’t leave him alone, and if he’s being honest, he really doesn’t mind talking to Kuroo, “I- Uhhh...every night I say the names of everyone lost or dead as a way to honor them.”

Kuroo nodded, looking touched, “Mind if I join you tomorrow?”

Tsukishima shook his head, “No.”

And so the tradition began, every night either right after or right before his night shift, depending on the shift that he took, he’d stand in front of the fire with Kuroo and he would murmur the names under his breath, reading off the list he kept in his head. More and more people started to join, names were added and taken away as some stragglers found their way back, or some people died.

Soon enough, everyone in the camp started to join in and they soon just started to integrate it into their schedule as a way to not forget the people that they have lost to be here. It was needed, but it made the situation real for others. It made them realize that the people on that list are probably never coming back. It was always quiet during that time. The normal noises of people moving around the house, gone as everyone gathered around the fire. People cried there, comforted by their friends as they grieved the ones that were gone.

Tsukishima never cried during these, his voice would shake on a few names, but he would force it to stay steady. At the end of the listing, everyone would stay a couple minutes, giving the fallen a moment of silence before they continued along with their normal lives. That was probably the worst part about living in this base. Knowing that you’re safe, but your friends,  _ family _ , are still out there fighting to survive.

He knows that he should have more faith in his best friend, but after what he saw back there, he’s not sure anyone could survive that. The crows have tried to ask him what he saw, but every time he tried to speak about it, his throat would close and his breathing would speed up. They deserve to know what happened to their teammates, and at the very least, Noya deserves to know what happened to his boyfriend. That settles it. He needs to tell them. It’s not fair to them to hold false hope that they’re still alive.

Writing a note, Tsukishima let everyone on Karasuno know to meet him by the fire a bit before the listing. Once everyone gathered there he took a deep breath and started, “I know you’ve asked me to tell you this before and I didn’t, but I owe it to all of you to tell what happened that day. After Noya ran, Ukai told me to run, and I told him that I couldn’t leave Yamaguchi. They convinced me in the end and they ran off to help both Yamaguchi an Asahi who were on the bus throwing glass at the vital parts of those...things...I ran because they told me to, but I couldn’t help but look back once and the bus was getting overrun by the creatures, and by the time I couldn’t see them anymore, I could no longer tell the dead from alive.”

He could see the grief in their eyes as they mourned who they lost. Before they didn’t know what had happened which meant that there was still hope, but now, now that they knew, hope seemed like a slim chance. Noya was especially choked up, Tsukishima could understand how he felt. After all, Yamaguchi was his world, his light, and now that he was gone, it was all dark. He turned his head, unable to meet the eyes of anyone before turning around and leaving, “I’m sorry.”

A few days after he told them what he saw, Tsukishima was guarding the gate when a soft rustling came from the bushes around him. Instantly put on high alert he cocked his gun and pointed it at the direction of the noise. “Who’s there,” he demanded.

A shadowed figure stepped forwards. The silhouette looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason why. A timid voice drifted on the wind towards him, it was covered in hope and relief, “Tsukki?”

He knew that voice. He knew it. It had to be him. It had to be. Voice cracking, Tsukishima stuttered out a name in response, “Y-Yamaguchi?”

The figure emerged from where it was covered in the shadows and suddenly Tsukishima could see the green hair and freckled face that he knew and loved. A couple more figures emerged from where they stood behind Yamaguchi. Asahi, Ukai, Takeda, Iwaizumi, and a couple more. They were all safe. As Tsukishima unlocked the gate for them, Yamaguchi rushed into his arms. 

The hole that was so achingly empty inside him was finally filled again, and as he watched Oikawa sob into Iwazumi’s shoulder, or Noya who was clinging onto Asahi with silent tears trickling down his face. Both pairs held a look of relief in their eyes that was mirrored in his own, and from where he stood holding Yamaguchi for the first time since all this started, Tsukishima couldn’t help but think that everything would turn out alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this. Feel free to leave a comment or kudos.
> 
> Have a nice day.


End file.
